Too close for Comfort
by Myka
Summary: Yohji interferes in Schuldig's mission, something that's been happening too regularly for Schuldig's comfort . But this time, things might turn out differently than they both expected.


Too close for Comfort

by Myka

A/N: Christmas fic for Pandora. Been working on it since early December, finally finished it. She wanted angsty SxY with a happy ending. Hope this fills out the requirements XD 

~~~

It wasn't fair. 

Schuldig had been after the dealers for almost a month. Hiding, infiltrating, making sure these were the right people who were manufacturing the toxins. It was _his mission. Not Schwarz', not Weiss' and it certainly didn't belong to a certain blond kitten. It was _his_._

So why was Yohji there?

Why was Yohji always there?! Ever since he had become a free agent and started doing some work for Kritiker they always seemed to meet. As if someone was purposely clashing their missions together. Schuldig had been beyond surprised when his former enemies approached him and asked for his services as a telepath. And the redhead had accepted their proposition without much thought; for some reason he wanted to stay on Kritiker's good side; so now whenever the association needed the help of a telepath they would call him. Besides Kritiker paid good money for his services.

Schuldig pressed his back against the side of the old barn conveniently located in the middle of nowhere, keeping a close eye at the dealers on the front and Yohji who was hiding in some bushes. Not a very smart move, the redhead thought, as any sudden movement might create a noise. He listened more intently to his targets as they were discussing the night's drop-offs; just what Schuldig had been waiting for. But his careful planning crumbled right there. The leaves shuffled and Schuldig could almost see in slow motion how Yohji jumped from his hiding spot and launched at the dealers.

Pissed off didn't even come close to what Schuldig was feeling right now. He was going to hurt the blond for destroying his hard work. He was going to hurt him until the little kitten begged for him to stop. 

The thugs pulled their guns at the sight of Yohji attacking and didn't waste any time to fire them. Yohji dove like a pro as he threw his wire at them. But they kept coming and Schuldig knew that sooner or later the kitten would be overwhelmed. The way he saw it meant he had two options.

One. Stay back and let the situation play out on it's own. 

Two. Go and help the kitten and find out why was he there destroying all Schuldig's hard work. 

Just then Schuldig heard a loud curse from the little battle ground.

Option number two it was.

~~~

Yohji threw his wire around the neck of one of the punks, taking him out immediately. A fist connected with the side of his face, leaving him disoriented for less than a second. This should have been over by now; but they just seemed to keep coming. How he hated solo missions. He took another guy out with his wire again, five down. He hadn't thought they were this many. He hadn't thought ahead, period. He didn't want this mission; he just didn't want to be there. And this was the quickest way out. 

But they just kept coming. Damn it… At this rate he was in serious trouble. He hated to admit it, but he needed help. 

Then just out of nowhere it came.

But Yohji didn't believe his eyes. _He couldn't be the one coming to his aid. Not __him. _

Schuldig.

~~~

It didn't take long for the two assassins to get the upper hand. Rashness was no comparison to good training and experience

Yohji guided his wire back into his watch as his jade eyes held a deep anger towards the redhead in front of him. "What the hell are you doing here?" Yohji yelled, hands still on his watch. "And whose side are you on?" 

Schuldig rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms. "None really; but between you and them, I would say yours. Besides, it should be me asking you what _you_ are doing here? This is _my mission."_

"I don't care." Yohji replied. "Yours or mine, I just want it over."

Schuldig glared; Yohji could be so annoying sometimes, especially when they met like this. It seemed the kitten was unable to get over the fact that they just weren't on opposite sides anymore, which would still give the kitten an excuse to hate him. Things were just different now. They could even be considered allies.

"Well, now that you've destroyed my livelihood for the month, you might as well tell me why you did it?" The redhead muttered as he gave Yohji a nasty look. Yohji returned the glare and suddenly an alarm blared. 

Schuldig reacted immediately, turning around towards the entrance of the barn. Three men rushed at them and Schuldig wasted no time in meeting the first one head on and knocking him off his feet while Yohji decided to attend to the other two. The telepath snapped his enemy's neck with one swift twist and he had enough time to witness as the man Yohji wasn't keeping such a good eye on pulled a small vile from his pocket and threw it a Yohji's feet just as the blond had finally finished taken care of the other guy.

Thick smoke rose from the floor at Yohji's feet as if a mad wind carried it upwards. Yohji just stood there, nailed to the floor. Schuldig could see every moment of this – like a movie he could have paused any second. He used his gift to take care of the last thug and as the man started to fall lifelessly to the floor he rushed forward using all of his speed, covering his nose and mouth with his right hand as he snatched Yohji's arm with his left and pulled him away from the smoke. 

_"Don't inhale it!"_ Schuldig screamed in Yohji's head and started to run away from the rising toxin. Yohji just gave a silent nod and ran alongside him.

They ran for some minutes; achieving quite a good distance between them and the barn before finally reaching what resembled a small rundown shack hidden beside a long path. Schuldig stepped inside with Yohji right behind. 

Once inside Yohji was amazed at how it was the complete opposite from the outside. It was clean and comfortable; a small room with all the basics to survive.

Yohji was taking a moment to catch his breath from the long run when Schuldig approached him, invading his personal space. 

"Did you inhale the gas?" Schuldig asked very seriously. 

Yohji blinked at the sudden closeness. "I don't think so…" he muttered.

"Let me see." The telepath added as he quickly placed his hands on both sides of Yohji's face to which Yohji instantly tried to flinch away. "God! Kudou! I'm not going to do anything!" Schuldig snapped, then checked the other assassin's eyes for any signs of redness and his mouth to see if it was dry. They were both normal. Schuldig finally released Yohji and stepped back. "It looks like you didn't, that stuff works fast, you should be running a temperature by now if you had inhaled it." Yohji tried to shake off the sensation of Schuldig's hands on his face to no avail. "Since when are you an expert on this and what would you have done if I had inhaled it?"

"They gave me a crash course on this shit before I came here and if you had inhaled it, I would have given you this," he answered, pulling a small tube from his pocket. 

"What's that?" Yohji asked without hesitation.

"The antidote."

"And why don't we take it just in case?"

"Because it's poisonous unless you have inhaled the gas."

"Ohh…" 

Yohji stayed quiet for a while. He hated this. He hated that he had been forced to come here. Yohji knew that Kritiker had been sending him to all of Schuldig's missions and he just wished he knew why. The tension between them always seemed to be there; bickering came as natural as breathing. Yohji just didn't understand why Kritiker would send him to Schuldig's missions on purpose. And now here he was, hiding in a shack in the middle of nowhere with the redhead. He would never hear the end of it when the others found out, and they would find out. Why did this shit keep on happening to him anyway? 

He remembered the first time he had encountered the redhead during a mission. Of course, by then he didn't know that Kritiker was doing it on purpose and his first reaction had been to lash out; it took him a few seconds to come to his senses and figure Schuldig meant him no harm. The second time he didn't even pay attention to Schuldig, even though the redhead kept sending him thoughts and annoying him to no end. And now… 

"Say something, it's unnerving when you're so quiet." Schuldig snapped as he offered a mug of coffee to Yohji. 

"Why? Aren't you reading my mind?" Yohji replied, trying to sound uninterested as he took the mug that was being offered.

"Something about Kritiker putting us together on purpose." Schuldig commented calmly, giving Yohji a cold look. "But this isn't a mission from Kritiker and you still manage to show up." He finished, taking a zip from his coffee.

Yohji pouted without meaning to and decided to entertain himself with looking around the place. "Is this where you've been staying?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

Schuldig removed the mug from his lips. "That barn turned factory is in the middle of nowhere, I had to stay close in order to do the mission." 

"Alone?"

"Why would anyone be here?"

Yohji shrugged, perplexed by his own question. Silence followed and Yohji couldn't help but sense the unnerving feeling of the air around him. He had just placed the mug Schuldig had given him down after drinking the coffee when a small light started blinking at the corner of his eye. "What's that?" he asked quickly.

Schuldig cursed under his breath and opened a door hidden as part of the wall. "We have to hide," he announced as he motioned Yohji forward towards the open door.

Yohji did as he was told without much debate and stood in front of the new space completely bewildered. "This is a closet, Schuldig."

"It's a safe room; we lock it and it keeps us out of harm's way." The redhead bit back with a bit of urgency.

"But if I go in there, where will you go?" Yohji asked taking note of the small space. Schuldig just looked at him without blinking. "You're kidding right?" Yohji added. "There's no way we can both fit in there." Schuldig made a sound. There was no time for this. They both needed to be in that room right now!

"Awww… dammit." Yohji mumbled as Schuldig pushed him forward into the safe room. Yohji turned around once inside so he could face the redhead. "You're crazy you know that?"

Schuldig ignored him and went in back first into the space so he could face the door. He pressed his back to Yohji's chest, partly to annoy the blond and partly because there was no other way he would fit. Yohji protested immediately but Schuldig just ignored him and pulled the door towards him. But it wouldn't close. "Stop that! We just don't fit in here, it's too tight!" Yohji yelled.

Schuldig had had enough. He faced Yohji immediately and pointed towards the corner of the shack. "You see that little blinking light?! That's bad news! There are sensors all around this place! The light means there's something very close that I... That _we_ can't handle got it?!" Yohji hushed at the outburst and just stared. "So you rather be patient for just a few minutes and try to stand us being this close, or die?!"

Yohji frowned. "Fine. But that still doesn't mean we fit in here."

Schuldig seemed to analyze the situation briefly. "Then I'll have to face you. Here, grab the doorknob." Yohji followed suit. Schuldig rearranged his position so that now he was face to face with Yohji. He kept his arms at his sides just like the blond and as Yohji prayed Schuldig couldn't feel his body tremble he shut the door.

A small emergency light turned on above them the second the door was closed, giving the room a slightly more claustrophobic feeling that it already had.

Yohji stared at Schuldig's emerald eyes, just inches away from him; their chests pressing against each other with every intake of air. They both took a breath at the same time and Yohji tried to control the small tremors that rose up through him, but for some reason he couldn't and no matter how hard he tried, the heat just crept up his face.

"Well, this isn't so bad." Schuldig chuckled after a paused silence as he tilted his head to the side. He smirked slightly at Yohji, of course he had noticed how Yohji was reacting to the feel of his body and it was just too good to pass up. 

"If your lips touch mine, I will slaughter you," the blond warned.

Schuldig's eyebrows rose a bit at the remark. "What nice choice of words Yotan, but why would you say something like that?"

"There's a look in your eyes I don't like."

Schuldig raised his eyebrows again and as a thought passed through his head he grinned. He shifted his body slightly, still grinning at Yohji. The blond assassin gasped and Schuldig laughed.

"Are you always this paranoid?" The redhead asked after his laughing fit. "You are so predictable." he finished still laughing. 

Yohji frowned immediately and his head swam a bit. "Is there enough air in this hole? I think I'm feeling claustrophobic."

"There's a vent right above us, plenty of fresh air." 

"Well then at least could you move a little so I can free my arm; it's getting numb."

"With pleasure Yotan, as soon as you give me one of your cigarettes." The redhead replied with sarcasm, to which Yohji just rolled his eyes and huffed. They didn't speak much after that, every once in a while Yohji voiced his incommodity but besides that they didn't even look at each other. 

After five minutes of silence – which seemed much longer – Schuldig moved his head slightly; his neck was killing him! If only he could rest his head for a while… He glanced up at Yohji who had his eyes shut as he rested his head against the wall.

_"Ah, the hell with it"_

Yohji immediately opened his eyes when he felt a weight on his chest. "What are you doing?" he asked the redhead.

Schuldig just snickered at him; his neck muscles finally relaxing as he rested his head on Yohji's chest. "My neck hurts," he replied. 

Yohji sighed; no point in starting a fight with the telepath about something he couldn't resolve and the contact was quite pleasant; not that he would ever admit that. But the blond was still restless, the small room was making him claustrophobic, his temperature just felt like it was rising by the second.

"Yohji?" Schuldig asked raising his head to look at the blond. "Your heart feels like it's about to burst from your chest, are you all right?"

Yohji clenched his teeth and suddenly gasped as his chest tightened. "I can't breathe!"

"What?!" Schuldig immediately snapped.

"Something's wrong! Everything fucking hurts!"

"Dammit Yohji! You told me you hadn't inhaled the damn gas!"

"I thought I didn't! Oh god! Open the door Schu!"

"I can't! It won't let me open it until the coast is clear!" Schuldig yelled in a panicked voice as Yohji let out a cry of pain. "I'll give you the medicine, just give me a sec." 

Schuldig groaned as he tried to move his numb and trapped hand and finally managed to get it inside his pant pocket and grab the tube with the antidote. Now came the main problem; how to free his arm from the tight spot in order to give Yohji the medicine. He tried once by force and only managed to scrape the back of his hand. He kept a close eye on Yohji as he did this. The blond's breathing had become rough and shallow; the quantity he had inhaled of the gas had been so low it had taken much longer than usual for the effects to show but once it had reached his bloodstream the effects were immediate. If Schuldig didn't get his arm free soon Yohji was going to die. He tried again, but he only managed to scratch his hand even more. The suddenly he couldn't feel Yohji's chest against his own when he breathed. 

"Yohji?"

The Weiss assassin remained completely limp in front of him and Schuldig knew what he had to do; he closed his eyes and concentrated as he forced his arm upwards. A scream left Schuldig's lips as his shoulder snapped from its socket, but his arm rose free; bleeding from rasping it against the coarse wall. He bit his lip from the pain as he opened the tube with his mouth and positioned it against Yohji's closed lips. 

"Yohji! Open your mouth dammit! Yohji?!"

No response. There was no time to think. Schuldig placed the small tube over his lips and took two of the pills into his own mouth then locked his lips with Yohji's and pushed the medicine into the blond's mouth with his tongue. 

"Swallow dammit!" he yelled in frustration as the aftertaste of the pills remained in his mouth.

Then Yohji moved slightly and swallowed.

Schuldig sighed. There was nothing else he could do for Yohji now, only time would tell if the Weiss assassin had taken the antidote in time. He winced; his shoulder was pure agony and the remaining taste of the pills burned inside his mouth; he needed water to wash off the possible side effects the damn things could cause him, but that had to wait until after the security system decided to free them. The pain of his dislocated shoulder was taking a toll on him and eventually Schuldig gave in to it, letting his head rest against Yohji's chest once again and finally closing his eyes.

~~~ 

Schuldig woke to the pleasantness of a comfortable bed. He blinked a few times to reassure himself he wasn't dreaming. The first thing he noticed was the bandages around his left arm and how light his body felt.

"You feel light-headed don't you?"

Schuldig blinked and looked to the side.

Yohji smiled at him from the chair he was sitting in. "They gave you some drugs; they'll wear off in a few hours."

Schuldig snickered at him. "Looks like you made it; and you're better off than me by the looks of it."

"Yeah…" Yohji laughed a bit in agreement, never letting his eyes fall from Schuldig's face. Then suddenly his face went very grave. "You didn't have to do that you know."

The redhead blinked. "Do what?"

"Risk your life to save mine." Yohji answered seriously without blinking.

Schuldig was caught by the deep gaze in Yohji's eyes. It was the first time the blond had ever looked at him like that, like he was more than just a thorn in his side, like he actually _cared_ if something happened to him. "I never did that." He replied as he looked away.

"You put those pills inside your mouth in order to give them to me."

Schuldig instantly looked at Yohji. "How did you…"

"How did I know?" Yohji interrupted. "The doctors spent five minutes resuscitating you; you baka. You told me yourself those things were poisonous if one hasn't inhaled the gas."

"Well; it's not like I could let you die right in front of me when I could do something" The redhead added, to which Yohji smiled warmly. Schuldig looked away instantly as heat crept up his face. Blushing! He was actually blushing! He heard Yohji's chair moving and suddenly there was a warm hand on his forehead. Schuldig turned slowly to look at Yohji again.

"Thank you for saving me. I guess you're not so bad after all." The blond spoke softly. Schuldig could only nod; he expected Yohji to sit back on his chair but instead the Weiss assassin just seemed to get closer. Their faces were so close now; the jade in Yohji's eyes the only thing Schuldig could see.

"Yotan…"

Yohji moved closer and closer and then the door burst open and the blond jumped back to the spot on his chair faster that you could say 'kiss'. Yohji looked away from the door and stared at the floor; his face completely beet red. 

"You're up Schuldig!" Manx said in a cheery tone. "Yohji; didn't I tell you to call me once he woke up?"

"He just got up." The blond mumbled still finding the floor very interesting. 

Schuldig just put on his best smile for Manx, as Yohji kept glaring at the floor, he obviously didn't want Manx to see how red-faced he was. Schuldig happened to like Manx, she was always the one that gave him his Kritiker missions, she really cared a lot about Weiss and Schuldig even believed she even cared if something would happen to him. 

"I would love if this was a friendly visit but I'm actually here on business." Manx added as she stopped by Yohji's side to look at Schuldig. "Kritiker is very sorry they disrupted your mission Schuldig, and they will repay you for doing so. They're also talked to your employer and everything's fine there too."

The redhead blinked, surprised by the statement. "But I'm just hired help, why go through so much trouble?"

Manx smiled broadly. "Because Kritiker takes care of their own. I'm here to offer you a permanent position in our ranks."

Yohji finally looked up from the floor to look at Schuldig who couldn't keep the shock from his face.

"Do you accept?" Manx asked.

"A steady income, good medical cover… of course I accept." Schuldig grinned.

"Excellent." Manx replied as she started making her way to the door. 

"Welcome to the club Schuldig." Yohji said with a big smile.

Manx stopped at the door and turned towards the two assassins again. "Oh! And Yohji…"

Yohji glanced at her and she pointed towards the bed where Schuldig laid.

"…meet your new partner."

~~~

~end~


End file.
